Running Head:UNERSTANDINGYOUROWNCOMMUNITY

Understanding Your Own Community

EZ6619

SW 4020

Running Head:UNERSTANDINGYOUROWNCOMMUNITY

A community is a group of people living in the same place or having a certain characteristic in common. People live in communities to have a type of fellowship with others and be involved with people that share common interests and goals. Without communities, where would we be? That is something to ask yourself. The community in which I was raised was the community of Chesterfield Twp. Michigan. When I first moved to Chesterfield Twp., I was the age of two. According to http://www.michigan.gov/documents/8207_26112_7.pdf, in 1993, there were approximately 27,134 people living in Chesterfield Twp. The location in which I grew up within Chesterfield consisted of mainly white- non Hispanic people and very few other races and was a residential community. According to the latest Census Bereau, there are 37,405 people currently living in Chesterfield Twp. Of those people, 92% were white- non Hispanic, 2.9% were African American, 0.4% were American Indian, 0.8% were Asian, and 2.5% were Hispanic/Latino. The diverse groups maintained their separation of characteristics in regards to their race and were segregated in this area. The estimated median household income in 1993 was $61,630 compared to $59,797 in 2010. Between the years of 1990 and 1994, 1,435 home were built in comparison to 3,803 homes built from 1995-2000. Based on this data, it shows that the competition in Chesterfield Twp. is about the acquisition and possession of land to build homes. People were in competition to build their homes in Chesterfield Twp. Because the schools were good and it was a safe area to raise a family. When I was growing up, Chesterfield consisted of the local fire department, police station, Meijer, gas stations, and smaller stores. Today, Chesterfield has grown businesswise. Chesterfield now has many restaurants, gas stations, stores such as WalMart, target, and Menards, as well as other commercial businesses. The competition for building within Chesterfield greatly increased as the years went on and part of the reason I feel this

Running Head:UNERSTANDINGYOUROWNCOMMUNITY

happened was because the city of Chesterfield is right off of lake St. Clair. It is a destination for people to travel to during the summertime months to ride boats and jet skis as well as neighboring the safest city in Michigan which is New Baltimore. Centralization did not seem to occur within Chesterfield Twp. based on the data I had found. Chesterfield Twp. is about a 45 minute drive from Michigans city of Detroit, however, this residential area does not strictly surround Detroit. The changes within Chesterfield Twp. have increased, which can impact diverse populations as well as populations- at risk. With the increase in commercial businesses, the value of Chesterfield has increased which makes it harder for populations at risk to be able to afford housing in this area. There are no agencies for populations at risk in the area of Chesterfield, but, Chesterfield is located next to Mt. Clemens which is a huge area for housing populations at risk. Mt. Clemens is where my field placement is at and I know that the cost of living in Mt. Clemens is cheaper than Chesterfield Twp. There is a possibility that diverse populations and populations at risk could migrate to Chesterfield Twp, but as stated it would be hard for them to financially support themselves. Populations- at risk could also face the challenges of racism and discrimination because the variety of races living in this area is slim. With the majority of people being white Caucasians, other races such as African America, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian would be at risk of being discriminated against because their way of live and their beliefs may be different than those of the white Caucasians. Some races prefer living in areas that do not include their own race while others such as Hispanics, like to live in close proximity to each other because raising their children in their culture is important to them. The current nature of interactions among different racial groups seems to be okay if there is one. As stated before, the difference in races within the city are very, very minimal, but there

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have been no major problems including racial differences. When I see different races interacting throughout the city whether it be in stores, schools, or restaurants, they are good interactions. If bad interactions were to occur, surrounding areas such as New Haven and Mt. Clemens which are mainly populated with African Americans and Hispanics, would have problems. There would be more racial discrimination towards the other races when the other races travel to each others territories. The relationships between these communities would be very bad if the races of the surrounding areas and people in Chesterfield would not get along. Along with racial issues that could ruin interactions, business could also increase services to be in competition with other races and their business which end up affecting the whole population within the areas rather than just having a problem between two groups. My community from the systems perspective is that there are multiple parts to the city. There are resources that the city needs to function such as land (to build residential, industrial, and commercial properties on), equipment (to build things), funding (to pay for housing and other industries), and people to live in the community otherwise businesses would not be able to thrive and the community would end up being dead with no one living in it. The systems theory points out the relationships within the community and basically the starting point to the building of a community. There are horizontal relationships as well as vertical relationships. The horizontal relationships would be a school which is the internal system. The school needs resources from the outside system which shows the vertical relationship because the school is going to an outside resources to get what it needs. Although they are two different entities, they work together for a common goal. The ecological perspective in regards to my community is that people change with the community. People are constantly creating, restructuring, and adapting to the environment as the environment is affecting them (Tripod). With the ecological

Running Head:UNERSTANDINGYOUROWNCOMMUNITY

perspective, people living within Chesterfield adapt with the community. When prices go up in the grocery store, people pay the price or go to different areas to buy what they need. If a certain race begins to migrate into Chesterfield, peoples ideas about those races would have to change or those people living in the areas that are uncomfortable would choose to leave. This perspective is all about the way people react within the environment as well as how much they are willing to sacrifice in any event by living in this community. The lack of services being provided within Chesterfield could cause people to leave in which would go back to the Systems Theory and the fact that people have to be present to have a successful running entity. The community of Chesterfield has contributed to who I am today including my ethnic and cultural identity because I have not been exposed to very many different races until a few years ago when I was finishing up high school and moving on into college. When I was younger, I had one African American friend that lived down the street from me, but other than that everyone I knew was White- Caucasian. My school up until high school composed of White- Caucasians so when I moved on into high school and college I had a real culture shock. I also was judgmental of those of a different race at first because I had never really come in contact with other races and cultures. I can say that now that the community has prospered and more and more different cultures are visiting Chesterfield, I am gaining a better understanding of people as well as what Ive learned in the culture and diversity courses taught at Wayne State. I think that my cultural identity has stayed fairly the same. I am interested in what other cultures do and what they are willing to share but I still am respectful to those cultures and no longer show a prejudice about them. Overall, my community has had a bigger impact on who I am than I thought. With the people I grew up being surrounded by, my ideas of others was different than someone that grew

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up with many different races and cultures. I was sheltered from the diversity of other communities but as the community of Chesterfield is growing, I am too.

Running Head:UNERSTANDINGYOUROWNCOMMUNITY

Tripod. (3, 2014). Retrieved from http://ecologicaltheory.tripod.com/ United States Census Bereau (3, 2014 )Reteived from http://www.michigan.gov/documents/8207_26112_7.pdf,